Shell man among new ABF board members

Dr. David Fairbanks of Shell and Carolyn Moxey of Sheridan have joined the board of directors of the Antelope Butte Foundation, which aims to provide affordable and accessible year-round mountain recreation, training and educational opportunities, with a focus on youth and beginners, in the Big Horn Mountains.

Dr. David Fairbanks of Shell was selected as a board member in the fall. Dr. Fairbanks is the director of emergency medicine at South Big Horn County Hospital in Basin, and also the medical director for Eagle Med air medical transport in Powell.

“I want to help bring the opening of Antelope Butte to fruition and support its continuing success,” said Fairbanks, a former ski patroller, “As a Big Horn County resident I have vested interest in skiing there and bringing quality food and entertainment to the area.”

Moxey was selected Dec. 30. She is the owner of Purenergy Fitness and has a degree in recreation and kinesiology from Western State College, and is an avid snowboarder and mountain biker.

“I am excited at the idea of Antelope Butte reopening and want to take a bigger part in helping make it happen”, said Moxey. “It’s a great mountain, and a great size for our community. Opening Antelope Butte would provide jobs and recreational activity to our community in a way that fits and is sustainable.”

The selection of Moxey and Fairbanks was part of the Antelope Butte Foundation’s initiative to evolve their board into a governance and resource-gathering group, while professionalizing the technical aspects of their efforts to purchase and open the shuttered ski area at Antelope Butte.

“As we move into 2016, our board has nearly all their focus on working with donors to raise the funds necessary to complete our purchase of the Antelope Butte Mountain Recreation Area,” said Andrew Gast, Executive Director and Ski-EO of the Antelope Butte Foundation. “We’ve been deliberate to select board members with a passion for the project, capacity to participate in our fundraising efforts, and also have some technical expertise that directly relates to sustainable operations of a winter and summer mountain recreation area.”

The selection of both Moxey and Fairbanks to the board was unanimous and they began their service immediately. In addition, the Antelope Butte Foundation has two operating committees composed of community members-at-large, Fund Development and Project Development, and each of the new board members will sit on at least one of these committees.

“We are really excited to welcome these new board members,” said Gast, “As our organization continues to evolve and we move closer to finalizing the purchase of Antelope Butte we are seeing a tremendous amount of support from families and members of the community who want the local mountain reopened.”

Antelope Butte Foundation is under contract to purchase the Antelope Butte Moutain Recreation Area (formerly Antelope Butte Ski Area) and projects to reopen the ski area as early as the 2016-17 winter season and to begin offering summer activities in June 2017.